ASHLAND — Maybe nobody has a more unique perspective on Ashland’s last two state championship football teams than Bill Tom Ross.

He was an assistant coach for the 1975 Tomcats and an opposing coach against the 1990 Tomcats.

Both teams left him speechless — and that’s saying a lot if you know Bill Tom.

Ross witnessed two of the best wishbone teams the area has ever put together in an upclose and personal setting.

He remembers the euphoria of a spirited 1975 team with the nickname JAWS and the helpless feeling in 1990 when faced a running attack that simply steamrolled opponents. Ross had the first look at the 1990 Tomcats when Raceland came to Putnam Stadium. The Rams left with a 41-8 loss.

“If ever a backfield was meant to be a wishbone backfield, that was it,” he said. “We had a pretty nice set of backs with the JAWS team but our big thing then was defense on the ’75 team.”

That’s what makes the fantasy matchup between the two powerhouse Tomcat teams so fascinating. It’s 1990’s nearly unstoppable wishbone against 1975’s hard-hitting defense.

The wishbone was the offense of choice for both coach Vic Marsh in 1990 and Herb Conley in 1975. Their teams ran it to perfection.

The 1990 team rushed for 5,285 yards and the ’75 team for 4,069 yards.

Ross said preparing for the ’90 team was nightmarish.

Leading those bad dreams? Here comes fullback Charlie Johnson.

“You couldn’t get any leverage on him his hips were so low,” Ross said. “He was like trying to tackle a rolling manhole cover. It would take two or three to stop him. You had to overplay him and it made everything else go.”

Quarterback David Brown and halfbacks Juan Thomas and Chris Hutt completed the wishbone set in what was Ashland’s most productive offense of the modern era.

“I don’t remember that much about the line but those backs burn an image in your memory that will last forever,” Ross said. “Sitting in the stands is one thing, but down on the sideline you see everything and hear everything. It was like the unstoppable force. If you would draw one up, that was the perfect wishbone backfield.”

Brown was an underrated performer often overshadowed by the three 1,000-yard rushers. But he ran the option like a pro, often running 20 or 30 yards down the field before flipping it to a trailing Thomas or Hutt.

“It’s a hopeless situation defensively,” he said. “You stand there and guess. You can’t play assignment football. We had the free safety, middle linebacker and two tackles keyed on Johnson and still didn’t stop him.”

The ’75 team’s wishbone had its playmakers, too. Gary Thomas and Jeff Slone were 1,000-yard rushers and fullback Jay Shippey was as tough as they come. Quarterback Chuck Anderson was a natural born leader who doubled with Shippey to become one of the most feared linebacking duos in Tomcat history.

“I’ve never seen a defense as good” as 1975, Ross said. “What they had was so much heart and desire. They’d get to the ball well and they would hit you.”

Ashland’s 1975 team also had an offensive line of stars. Terry Bell was an All-State captain at guard. Casey Jones, Yancey Ramey, Raymond Hicks and Terry Lewis were the rest of the interior line that made that wishbone go, go, go.

But it was the JAWS defense that became 1975’s calling card and it’s also why Ross said if the two could have met for real, he liked those Tomcats to win.

“I’d go with the axiom that defense wins championships and our forte was defense,” Ross said. “It would depend a lot on field position, turnovers, penalties. The kicking game would be big and we had (Rick) Sang. Our kicking game was good.

“With this being a tossup game, weather might be a factor. Bad weather conditions, they would have the advantage. But probably, like I think was already written, if they played 10 times it would probably be 5-5. It’s two great teams who will be remembered for a long, long time.”

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.

com or (606) 326-2648.